Olympic Sculpture Park

The Seattle Art Museum created a wonderful community resource on the northern edge of downtown Seattle. The Olympic Sculpture Park, set on a hill overlooking the Olympic Mountains across Puget Sound to the west, has fascinating public sculptures for people to explore and observe in a variety of light and weather conditions.

One of the better uses of on-line technology is used to interpret the Park. As plans were made for the opening of the Park, the Seattle Times created an Olympic Sculpture Park Guide jammed packed with interpretive resources such as the Walking Tour Kit (left side of the web page under the Interactive Map) where you can download up to 20 podcasts that tell the stories from the artists' perspective of the sculpture you are viewing, the Virtual Tour - a 360 degree view of the Park and an interactive timeline of the history of the land one walks on in the Park. There is also a printable Walking Tour Map and a Park Built in a Minute photo sequence.

For interpreters who want to use technology and especially the web as a tool to reach visitors, this Seattle Times website should be considered a model for reaching a broad variety of audiences.

Photo Source: http://www.weissmanfredi.com/projects/

Art Inspires Interpretive Signs

Seattle's International District interprets the neighborhood's diverse community history through a series (Pathways to Pride) of silver and bronze plaques developed several years ago by Wing Luke Asian Museum.

The plaques blend beautiful art work with quotes, cultural elements and historical references.

Journey through Seattle's Chinatown-International District by visiting the bronze and silver plaques that identify key landmarks and share more information about the District. Along this pathway, you will uncover a rich part of Seattle's history, explore a community, share in its struggles and triumphs, and celebrate the diversity that enriches the lives of us all. Pathways to Pride Walking Tour Brochure

The above image shows the entire "Reflections" plaque. This image shows a more detailed view of the upper half of the plaque.

And here is the lower half of the plaque in greater detail.

These plaques are a beautiful and elegant way to interpret the stories of a neighborhood or community.